How to sell your property abroad: a quick guide

by André Piti On 02/15/2022

If you are thinking to sell your property abroad, it’s important to consider three things:

Present it well
Consider all the related expenses
Exploit the right momentum of the market to hit the highest profit

This is why we have created a quick guide that will help you through the whole selling process.

If you’re already set to list your property, you can do it easily by clicking here.

Dress your real estate well and make it shine

Would you go to a job interview wearing your pajama? For how obvious it may seem, a good presentation is the basic ingredient for a profitable sale.

For example, considering professional photography services for the picture has proven to be worth to ask for a higher price on the sale.

In fact, researches proved that adding at least 10 professional photos can increase the sale price by 1.7%.

Moreover, According to a Big Yellow Self Storage’s study, throwing clutter away can add an average of £4,811 to the property value.

In a nutshell, you want to mark all the points of this checklist before publishing the ads:

Give it a general cleaning
Get rid of all the unnecessary things so that the rooms look larger and remove personal items
Hire professionals to repair broken appliances or utility services
Do esthetic repairs (if required)
Tidy the indoor and outdoor areas

Be aware of necessary docs and expenses

Realtors can help you with the documents’ preparation, but it’s also good to be aware of what are the price ranges of each expense you are going to face:

Lawyer and Notary fees	0.5 – 1.0% of the property value
Possible Realtor’s commission (in some countries paid by the buyer)	4–8% of the property value
Capital gains tax	15–40% of the difference between the purchase and sale prices

The documents required are:

Title deed
Documentation from the Land Title Registry, verifying that the property has no encumbrances
Documents proving there are no outstanding tax or utility debts

Catch the best moment to sell your property abroad

Having a background or basic knowledge of the Real Estate Market can definitely be useful for this step, but even if you are starting from zero, there are some basic rules you can follow to catch the right moment to sell.

In general, the best times to sell are at the stages of expansion and peak of the market’s lifecycle, during which the prices reach the highest level.

After receiving a preliminary estimation of the value of your property, consider these hints:

Check in which season and moment of the market you are in
Summer and winter are not big-buy moments
A bullish (market increase due to buying trend) moment is where you have to be patient for the prices to reach their peak
A bearish (market decrease due to selling trend) moment is where you want to sell straight away to avoid further losses.

Of course, the outcome also depends on how urgently you want to sell. If you’re not in a hurry, remember that a bearish market can become a bullish one next year.

Sell your property abroad hard and wise

If you want to sell your property abroad with the best deal, explain to buyers what they can enjoy from your property. The area, the weather and the country itself are your personal promoters.

Show the lights of a good sunset visible from the neighborhood, write about the safety of the area, and be as specific as possible. In other words, follow this golden rule: list your property without letting the readers wonder or guess.